Published: May 8, 2013

Syrian Refugees Struggle at Zaatari Camp

About 120,000 Syrians are calling the tents and trailers of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan home, at least for the foreseeable future.
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Text by JODI RUDOREN, photographs by LYNSEY ADDARIO and video by TAMIR ELTERMAN

Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

Syrian refugees at a food distribution center at the Zaatari
refugee camp in Jordan.

ZAATARI, Jordan – Some 1.3 million Syrians fleeing civil war have flooded surrounding
nations. More than 500,000 are in Jordan, perhaps 120,000 of them in the mind-
numbing rows of tents and trailers in the overcrowded Zaatari refugee camp. To move
out into Jordan’s overwhelmed cities and villages, Syrians need a sponsor guaranteeing
financial support. This leaves many stuck in Zaatari, which opened last July, for months,
struggling to survive cold nights, dusty days and a diet of dry rations, and with little
to do but long for home.

A Makeshift Metropolis Emerges in the Desert

From September to November of last year, Zaatari doubled in size, to 5,000
shelters. It long ago exceeded its planned capacity of 60,000 people. There are now 25,000
dwellings sprawling across five square miles. Aid workers hope to replace all the tents
with sturdier mobile-home units by mid-summer. So far, there are 10,000.

Sept. 3, 2012 2,400 Shelters

DigitalGlobe

Nov. 15, 2012 5,163 Shelters

DigitalGlobe

Jan. 3, 2013 11,966 Shelters

DigitalGlobe

Feb. 3, 2013 18,169 Shelters

DigitalGlobe

March 14, 2013 26,242 Shelters

DigitalGlobe

April 15, 2013 25,378 Shelters

CNES 2013, Distribution Astrium Service, Spot Image, DigitalGlobe

SeptemberNovemberJanuaryFebruaryMarchApril

Hope and Uncertainty at the Border Crossing

Most refugees cross the border at night, some after days of trekking led by opposition
fighters. But as the rebels have taken control of areas close to the border, more people
are crossing during daylight. At Shajarah, a major Jordanian
Army registration point along the border, 541 refugees arrived one recent Wednesday.
They were given biscuits and juice and spent up to 12 hours crowding around two
soldiers in a dimly lighted tent who checked their identification and logged their names
by hand.

“We slept in a bus and we rode in a taxi then from car to car. Half of the trip was walking on rocks and we reached here at 3 a.m. I’m waiting here until God makes it better there.”

From Tent to Trailer, Waiting to Go Home

In Zaatari, the mobile-home units known as caravans are the most precious commodity,
separating those who have little from those who have less. The 200-square-foot
caravans, donated by more than half a dozen countries, have windows, floors and doors
that lock.

“It’s so easy. I feel proud because I feel like I help my family by bringing this income.”

Ahmad Ojan, 14, sells cups of hot tea for 15 cents apiece to people waiting at the registration camp and in the open-air market.

The Streets and Tents of Zaatari Up Close

Refugees have built a vast, unregulated marketplace in Zaatari,
with corrugated-tin stalls where they sell rotisserie chicken, soft ice cream, portable
washing machines and used clothes. A few refugees earn steady salaries at the Unicef-
run schools, or do occasional work cleaning bathrooms or putting up tents. They are
relieved to no longer be surrounded by violence, but desperate to return to Syria, and
hundreds compete every day for spots on a few buses to go home. The only future they
talk about is one without Bashar al-Assad.

Playgrounds

Schools

Hospitals

Mosques

Shower facilities

Show labels

1/4 Mile

CNES 2013, Distribution Astrium Service, Spot Image.

By CRAIG ALLEN, DAVID FURST, JON HUANG, SERGIO PEÇANHA and SHREEYA SINHA/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Sources: Satellite analysis by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. Camp infrastructure information by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Jordan